Woodward Avenue in Detroit between McNichols and Eight Mile is ten lanes wide and carries roughly 30,000 motor vehicles a day.

With that traffic volume, Woodward is twice as wide as needed. That translates to:

• Roughly twice as expensive to maintain in good repair
• Twice as expensive to light
• Twice as expensive to remove snow
• Twice as much water run off flowing to storm sewers

And wide roads are much more difficult for pedestrians to cross safely. They also encourage speeding.

One interesting idea: change the road so that only the five northbound lanes are used. South of the Eight Mile bridge, vehicles would crossover and use a two-way 5 lane road which includes a center turn lane. Similar, but temporary crossovers are used during expressway construction when half of the road is under construction. Curbside parking would remain on the northbound curb.

This would free up the existing five lanes of southbound Woodward for other uses?

We imagine two lanes closest to the median would be dedicated to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The curb lane would be for a two-way cycletrack for bicyclists. The middle lanes could be permeable to absorb storm water and while also having space for southbound BRT stations.

This redesign could also reduce the footprint of the overly built Woodward and McNichols intersection.

Sound crazy? Remember that Woodward south of McNichols is effectively has six lanes during rush hour and five lanes at other times.

It’s an idea we’ll definitely pitch during the upcoming Woodward Complete Streets planning process, scheduled to get underway very soon now.

This Thursday, October 25th at 6pm is a special, free community gathering at the Gleaner’s Community Food Bank (2131 Beaufait) presented by the Detroit Food and Fitness Collaborative (DFFC).

The event is called Active Living in Detroit and the guest speaker is Veronica Davis from Washington, DC – a professional transportation engineer, non-motorized planner, and recent honoree of President Obama’s Champions of Change program. There’s more information about Ms. Davis on the Whitehouse web site.

Many people do not recognize the role that equitable and
accessible multi modal transportation options play in their
everyday lives. Transportation planning and choices have
the ability to impact socioeconomic conditions, personal
health and overall quality of life. I seek to help others
understand that the role of transportation cannot be
underestimated.

There will also be updates on our the DFFC’s overall and two priority active living efforts: Complete Streets and building more trails, greenways, and bike lanes.

We hope you can attend and share this with other who share our similar interests in making Detroit a healthier, more active community.

There was a huge turnout at last night’s Detroit Riverfront Community meeting. The large crowd eagerly applauded both the finished and planned projects along the Detroit Riverfront.

Some of the more popular topics were the extension of the Dequindre Cut and the “dream” of connecting the RiverWalk with historic Fort Wayne.

2013 is going to be a busy year for RiverWalk improvements, including:

• Mt. Elliott Park – Under construction now; Completed by 2014. LEED certified design
• Civic Center area – Improved lighting, wayfinding and security are planned for the older riverfront section from Joe Louis to the Port Authority.
• Watermark/Chene East & West – Two new segments will be built on both sides of Chene Park.
• Coast Guard – The segment just west of the RiverPlace is owned by the Coast Guard. Plans are underway to extend the RiverWalk across this property toward Chene Park.
• UniRoyal site – The biggest missing piece on the east; Western third (43 acres) being remediated now
• Gabriel Richard Park – Getting a green parking lot and new path to the river.
• Globe Trading Building – DNR is turning into a Discovery Center with indoor climbing wall, archery, and kayak simulator; scheduled to open in 2013
• Dequindre Cut North – Construction to being, extending the Cut to Mack Avenue with bike lane extension to Hamtramck; Also includes connetions to Midtown and Eastern Market; It should be completed by 2014.

In case you missed the meeting, it is on-line. You may want to skip the intro and jump to the 5 minute mark.

Video streaming by Ustream

Congratulations to Detroit Bike City and their plans to open a bike shop in Woodbridge. The Huffinton Post has a fine writeup about this welcomed news.

It’s known as “The Shack.” For nearly seven years, the little carriage house located on Merrick and Trumbull in Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood has served as an underground music venue for DJs and rock-and-rollers.

But now the space is getting retooled as a venue with a little less music and a little more clangs and bangs — a bicycle shop specializing in custom and vintage bikes.

Shinola is also working on a bicycle retail outlet not too far away.

And there are often rumors of other established bicycle retail operations expanding.

What’s striking about each of these is their uniqueness. Not only are they unique among themselves, but they are unique compared with the two typical suburban bike shops models: the mom & pop and the big store/chain.

More retail options for Detroiters is always good. Still, it’s interesting that you can’t find a Trek, Specialized or Giant dealer across the city’s 139 square miles.

Is that a big deal?

Below are a few more updates from Governor Rick Synder’s bike ride on the Dequindre Cut.

First, his office has posted this entry on the Reinventing Michigan blog, including a video of the Governor’s speech celebrating the ground breaking for the Globe Trading Building project (See below).

Next, the Detroit Free Press ran a Caption This contest. The photo is of the Governor snapping on his helmet. The best entries will be printed in Sunday’s paper.

And finally, as we mentioned earlier, we had the Governor’s ear while riding up the Cut. We mentioned how Detroit is one of the most bike friendly cities in the U.S.. Apparently that stuck in the Governor’s mind because he repeated it during a WJR radio show just two days later.

From Mlive:

To mark the project’s birth on Saturday, he slapped on a helmet and went biking along the Dequindre Cut, and said people remarked about how Detroit is one of the best cities in the country for biking.

We’ll take credit for that.